Stitch puller



` Filed April 2', '1924 2 sheets-Sheet. 1

G. BECHERER STITCH FULLER v Iii s Ifl Oct. 27, 1925. 11,558,456

Filed April 2. 1924 2' sheatsL-'sheaz 2 A OHNEY Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BECHERER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

STITCH Application l'ed April 2,

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE BECHERER, a citizen of the United States, and resident of the city'of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have., invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stitch Fullers, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description,v reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to impro-vementsin stitch pullers and has for its primary object a mechanically operated device which will' readily pull the stitches from a shoe sole and the like in a very rapid manner.

A furtherA object is to construct a device lfor pulling stitches in which the werk is mechanically done and at a great saving of time over the old method of using a sharp instrument and pulling the stitches out by hand. This making my device especially useful in shoe repair shops and other places where leather is to be sewed after having the old stitches removed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of my device;

Fig; 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig.` 3 is a side elevation with the side y removed and parts broken away and in section;

Fig. l is an enlarged sectional view of the forward part of the device showing the position of the pulling needle on the forward stroke; i

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the needle on the return stroke;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a perspective View of one of the needle guides, and Fig. 8 is a fragmental top plan View of the forward part of the puller illustrating one of the needles in the act of pulling a stitch.

In the construction of my Idevicel employ a casing having a bottom 9, a. side wall 10, and a rearA wall 11. The bottom, side and rear walls are formed integral leaving one open side which is closedl by a side wall 12. The side wall 12 being held in position by means of screws 13. Formed integral with the housing is a base lor support- 14 by means of 'which the device can be secured in position. The side walls and 12 are provided onV their inner faces with bosses 15 which are provided with .an opening through which a shaft 16 extends.

FULLER.

1924. Serial No. 703,815.

The bosses 15 forming the bearings for the i Vlugs 22 are provided with a bore 23 into which the shank of the pulling needle 24 is inserted; The forward end of the pulling needle terminates in a hook 25, the purpose of which will be explained in detail later. The shank of the needle is provided with a depression 26 into which the end of a set screw 27 enters. The purpose of this depression is to securely hold the needle and not only prevent its pulling out of the bore 23,k but also to revent any turning of the needle so that the hook will always remain uppermost.

Formed integral with the walls 1() and 12 are bosses 28, these bosses are provided with bores 29 into which the reduced ends 30 of the needle guides 31 fit. The enlarged portions of the needle guides are provided with an opening 32 which is of sufficient diameter to allow the needle to pass freely therethrough. It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 6 that the enlarged portions of the needle guides abut so that although they 'are able to move freely in a rotary movement, all end pla-y is obviated.

The forward end 33 of the bottom 9 is bent 'downwardly so as to form a lip, this is for the purpose of allowing the bottom to fit closely and well into the point where the upper and sole of a shoe meet.

The inner face of the bottom adjacentthe point 33 is provided with parallel grooves 34 into which the individual needles pass. The purpose. ofthese grooves is to permit suiicient oscillation of the ,needles during their operation, as will befully hereinafter described. A f' The sides 10 and 12 are also provided with openingsv in which pivots36 are adapted to iit. These pivots are for the purpose of supporting the lid 3'?, the lid 37 tting down noV ico

bosses are provided with bores through dwhich arms 40V of a work guide extend. The forward portion of these arms is united bv means of a. yoke 41 which is provided vwith a screw threaded bore 42 and a dovetailed groove in which a guide pla-te 43 is -slidably mounted. The guide plate 43 is vprovided with an overhanging lip 44 which servesv as a work guide and whichis capable of adjustment by means of'a thumb screw 45 so that the pointof ythe pulling needle will strike just below the exposed portion of the stitch to be pulled. The arms 40 are provided withstops-46 which limit the backward movement of these arms. The stops are'norm'ally held in contact with the bosses I 39 by 'means of springs 47, these springs permit'the rods to move forward so that adjustment for various thicknesses of work can be readily had.

The operation of my device is as follows- After the device has been properly mounted on a. support and connected to a driving means either by means of the pulley as shown, by gearing, or direct connection, and the pulling needles secured in position the vdevice is ready for operation. This operation will be described when used for pulling the stitches from a shoe sole. The shoe sole is first inserted between theA guide and the lip- 83 as'illustrated in Fig. 8 and the machines moved by hand until one of the pulling ineedles has just finished its forward stroke and is about to'commence the return stroke. In this position the needle will assume the positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The sole is brought up against the lip 4f' of the guide 48 and the thumb screw 45 operated to raise or'lower the guide so that the point of the needle will strike the sole just below the thread to be pulled. The power drive is now turned on and the rotation of the driving -means will rotate the cams in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The first movement of the cam l18 when in this position Will have a tendencv to lower the eccentric strap 2O and due to the fact that the needle passes through the needle guide will prevent the forward part and extension 22 from dropping. By preventing this dropping, the needle is vrocked in the needle guide so that the hook 25 is raised upward causing it to hook under `the thread, and a further rotation of the cam permits it to pull backward on the needle and draw the stitch from the material.

During this movement the cam 19 is raised and through such raising forces the Ihook 25 of the needle carried by the eccenvneedles may be removed and only one needle employed and in this instance, the projections 22 formed integral Withthe eccentric straps 20 and 21 will rideon the surface 48 of the bottom 9. This surface r`is so arranged as to `,prevent any bumpingvor-catching of the projections 22.

It will be noted that between the grooves 34 is a wall 49, this wall terminating flush with the front end of the bottom 9. The purpose of this wall is that in the event only a portion of the stitch is withdrawn by one needle and the remaining portion left in the material, the movement of the material along the front edge of the housing Will cause the loose end of the thread to strike this wall and draw the thread taut in front of the next' needle, which needle will complete the pulling out of the thread. The tension setup by the guide in pressing the work against the front of the housing is sufficient to accomplish this. The manner in which the thread is pulled across the work by the wall 49 is clearly illustrated in Fig. 8.

Were this wall not present there would be a possibility of some of the stitches having only one portion or leg pulled out of the work and unless this loose' portion is held in some manner. there would be no possibility of the other hook catching the thread and completing the pullingI operation, but those threads which have onlv been partially withdrawn wouldvhave to be removed by hand and as before pointed out, this central partition wall 49 obviates this necessity.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim is z- 1. A :stitch puller comprising a casing, a shaft mounted in said casing, a hooked needle slidably carried byv said casing, aconnection between said needle and shaft for imparting a reciprocating movement to said needle, and Van'adjustable guide yieldingly located in front of and carried by said casing.

2. A stitch puller comprising a casing, a shaft mounted in said casing, eccentrics secured to said shaft and located within the lll) casing, eccentric straps carried by said eccentrics, hooked needles carried by said eccentric straps, pivoted needle supports carried by said casing, and an adjustable guide carried by said casing and located adjacent the hooked ends of said needles.

3. A stitch puller comprising a casing, a shaft mounted therein, a hooked needle slidably mounted in said casing, means for detachably connecting said needle and said shaft for imparting a reciprocating movement to said needle, and an adjustable spring controlled guide located in front of and carried by said casing.

4. A stitch puller comprising a. casing, a shaft mounted in said casing, a hooi-Ced needle slidably carried by said casing, a connection between said needle and shaft for imparting a reciprocating movement to said needle, and a guide having an adjustable lip located in front of and carried by said casing, and means for placing said shaft in rotation.

5. A stitch puller comprising a casing, a shaft mounted in said casing, eccentrics se cured to said shaft and located within the casing, eccentric straps carried by said eccentrics, hooked needles carried by said eccentric straps, pivoted needle supports carried by said casing, and an adjustable guide carried by said casing and located adjacent the hooked ends of said needles, and means i for placing said shaft in rotation.

6. A stitch puller comprising a casing, a shaft mounted therein, a hooked needle slidably mounted in said casing, means for detachably connecting said needle and said shaft for imparting a reciprocating movement to said needle, and an adjustable spring controlled guide located in front of and carried by said casing, and means for placing said shaft in rotation.

7. A stitch puller comprising a support, a hooked needle pivotally and slidably carried by said support, a shaft mounted in said support, a guide yieldingly carried by said support, and a connection between said shaft and needle for imparting a reciprocating and rocking movement to said needle wheres by said needle engages with a stitch and pulls the same out of the material.

8. A stitch puller comprising a support, a pivoted support carried by said first mentioned support, a needle slidably mounted in said pivoted support, a shaft mounted in the first mentioned support, a connection between said shaft and needle whereby said needle is reciprocated in the pivoted support and said pivoted support simultaneously rocked, and an adjustable guide carried by the first mentioned support.

9. A stitch puller comprising a support, a shaft rotatably mounted therein, a pivoted needle support carried by said support, a hooked needle slidably mounted in said needle support, a connection between said shaft and needle for imparting a reciprocating movement to said needle, said pivoted support causing the hooked end of the needle to raise and lower during its reciprocation, and a guide adjustably carried by the first mentioned support.

10. A stitch puller comprising a support, a shaft rotatably carried thereby, a hooked needle slidably carried by said support, means carried by said shaft and adapted to engage with the needle for imparting a reciprocating movement thereto, and a guide having an adjustable lip carried by said support.

11. A stitch puller comprising a support, a shaft carried by said support, a hooked needle, a rocking support carried by the firstA mentioned support, said rocking support slidably holding said needle intermediate its ends, means carried by said shaft and adapt-. ed to engage with said needle for imparting a reciprocating movement thereto, said reciprocating means and rocking support also imparting a vertical circular movement to the hook of the needle simultaneous with its reciprocation, a spring controlled guide carried by the first mentioned support, and an adjustable lip carried by said guide.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE BECHEREB. 

